The ongoing strife in Syria has been a bracing reminder to the world of just how inhumane we can be to one another -- especially when the survival of a deeply entrenched regime may be at stake. The images from the ongoing siege of the city of Homs by government forces are stark, and terms like "massacre" have been routinely used to describe what's happening there. Of course, this is an all too familiar story -- the pictures of the people's struggle to cope with daily life in the midst of a war zone are reminiscent of many similar situations such as the protracted siege of Sarajevo.
